““On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and impurity. “And on that day,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will erase idol worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be forgotten. I will remove from the land both the false prophets and the spirit of impurity that came with them. If anyone continues to prophesy, his own father and mother will tell him, ‘You must die, for you have prophesied lies in the name of the Lord.’ And as he prophesies, his own father and mother will stab him. “On that day people will be ashamed to claim the prophetic gift. No one will pretend to be a prophet by wearing prophet’s clothes. He will say, ‘I’m no prophet; I’m a farmer. I began working for a farmer as a boy.’ And if someone asks, ‘Then what about those wounds on your chest?’ he will say, ‘I was wounded at my friends’ house!’ “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, the man who is my partner,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Strike down the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn against the lambs. Two-thirds of the people in the land will be cut off and die,” says the Lord. “But one-third will be left in the land. I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘These are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’””
Zechariah 13:1-9 NLT
The main character in this passage could be scene as the gift of prophecy and its role in God’s plan. While in Israel’s past, many would claim to be prophets, it seems that prophecy would cease as it was scene as a means to be persecuted. We know from history that Israel lost its prophets after Malachi. By the time of Jesus, God had been silent for 400 years. However, we also know that Paul claimed the prophetic gift as something ti be desired post Christ. We also know from Acts that prophecy would resume. We can conclude that the unique role of prophecy in Israel would be dramatically shifted before his messiah and after his messiah. It would look tacitly different in form and function. Whereas before, revelation would tell the future about Israel, God and the world, the layer prophecy would tell the story in reverse polarity. It would unravel the revealed instead of revealing the ravelled. The preserved remnant will become ambassadors of this unraveling, rather than the focus of it.
JOSH McGARY. COM 